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Friday, April 2, 2010

In the Words of Justin Timberlake: I'm bringing friendly back.

Okay, so I'm paraphrasing, but what JT offers to bring back is awfully friendly....

I've had a great Good Friday so far. I should mention that I love Good Friday because it not only kicks off my spring break every year, but it was also on a Good Friday 8 years ago that Dustin and I decided to make this thing official and get married the following winter. Some other day I'll bore you all with the details of his long-winded proposal that I could predict a mile away, but that will be another post, another day.
I woke up this morning in my parent's house with the window wide open and promises of a sunny day in the 80's. I went for a walk with Liam to enjoy the beautiful weather and perfectly manicured lawns of my hometown. At one point I even ran into some people I knew with their children. When I got back there was fresh guacamole for lunch. I might mention that through all of this and into the wee hours of the night I never stopped eating the rice krispies treats that my dad had made for our arrival last night. I spent the afternoon (a.k.a. nap time) getting my daily dose of Vitamin D (a.k.a. sunbathing). Right now I'm anticipating my parent's famous churrascaria (Brasilian BBQ) in the backyard for dinner. It is a glorious Good Friday, which has lead to my most recent inspiration....
I was walking down the street today when something hit me - it was friendliness. Whoa....hold the phone....people saying hello to me, looking me in the eye, AND smiling. I almost couldn't take it. Sure, people in our city say hello, but if it is even audible it is usually mumbled as the're looking at your feet and hurrying past you. I'm guilty of it too. I am WAY too intimidated by most strangers to say "hello" to just anyone. It's not that I'm scared of them - okay maybe of the giant lady in Kroger that is telling her children to shut up in a not-very-nice-way - I might be scared of her. It's more that I'm too embarrassed to say hi, or I'm just not in the mood to be friendly. Even when someone says "hi" to me first - I sometimes don't respond out of the very idea that they are probably talking to someone else and I don't want to be the weirdo that thought they were talking to me. Well, this morning it was surprising, fun, and enlightening to have total strangers be so friendly to me.
So, with all that being said, my plan next week is to bring friendly back to P-town. No one is immune to my new friendly attitude. I even practiced saying "hi" today on my walk with Liam. (The key is to sound happy, but not bubbly - an awfully thin line - I don't want people to resent me.) I plan on saying hello to every person I come into contact with (I might have to draw a line at the mall - where I would just be constantly spitting it out - that's just nuts). Heck, I might even look them in the eye and flash them a smile - in fact, I vow to do that.
So watch out Peoria residents - I'm coming back from the land of milk and honey with an attitude of change. No person is immune from my charm and charisma. Watch out next door neighbor that never leaves his house during daylight hours. Watch out strange man sitting on his porch watching me walk my two children by. And watch out giant lady in the Kroger aisle yelling at your children. You are all going to get a daily dose of friendly from yours truly. We're going to start doing it like they do it in northwest Ohio - where the sun is always shining, the rice krispies are always plentiful, the guacamole is always fresh, you can't find a chain-link fence within a one mile radius, and I've probably just overdosed on Vitamin D (a.k.a. sunburn).